It’s been snowing all weekend… So, here’s a shot of Shadow Mountain, from the morning after a big snow last year. Notice the clear bright blue sky. That’s how we like to order up our ski days here… big dump overnight, followed by a clear sunny day!

We got snow on Thanksgiving night! So, skiing should be good this weekend! This is a shot I took downtown last year about this time, after one of the big snows, when I was playing around with the night photography thing. I kinda’ like this one.

Snow accumulates on a sculpture by the Aspen Art Museum and on the Rio Grande Bridge.

In hopes of encouraging the snowfall we had last year… here’s a shot of the type of snow which accumulated last winter, creating a balanced pillow of snow on this sculpture near the Aspen Art Museum, and on top of the Rio Grande Bridge over the Roaring Fork River. Notice how the snow on the top beams of the bridge has melted and refrozen repeatedly, becoming flexible enough that it’s hanging well over the edge, especially on the far side. This was my view as I walked into work every day, looking at the snowy, sunlit Aspen Mountain in the background.

early evening sunlight reflects on the way up Tiehack at Buttermilk Mtn.

Keeping with my anticipation of skiing theme… this was also taken after the end of last season, when the lifts were no longer running. In fact, this was the day before my “Highland Bowl From Ajax” photo (posted two days ago).

As I skinned up Tiehack on Buttermilk Mtn. in the early evening, and noticed how the thawed and refrozen snow created a glaze which shimmered as the sun sank lower in the sky. That “glaze” also made the telemark turns a little more interesting on the way down; not as bad as a true crust layer, but definitely not like powder either!

This was also the same day as my “Empty Chair” photo. Again, very cool having the entire mountain to myself… didn’t see another soul on the way up or down (just their tracks… but I took another route down, to get some fresh turns, of course!).